


The power of Scent

by Thedoctorsblogger



Category: The Thick of It (TV)
Genre: F/M, Memories, Time Travel, scent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-14 06:03:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20187487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thedoctorsblogger/pseuds/Thedoctorsblogger
Summary: It's amazing what smells can trigger in a person. Sam thinks about what it does for her.





	The power of Scent

**Author's Note:**

> this is for writers month 2019 prompt Time Travel.

It’s amazing what a smell can do to a person. One smell can take the mind back to memories forgotten long ago. It could change their mood so completely, sometimes moving them to tears. One smell could effectively make a person travel back in time to their favorite memories. 

For Sam, there were a few scents that consumed her mind completely and totally, losing her in her surroundings and taking her, traveling back to a time that she wouldn’t give up for the world. 

The smell of very black coffee brought her back to those early mornings in Westminster, waiting for Malcolm to come in. Sam would come in before the sun even rose so that by the time that he came in, she had all briefings proofed and ready to be gone through one last time, all newspapers were on his desk, and a fresh cup of coffee was sitting on his desk along with a skinny muffin, because if Sam didn’t feed Malcolm, he wouldn’t eat. 

The smell of oranges brought Sam back to those very late nights when they likely wouldn’t even get home until after work the next day. Those nights that usually started with Malcolm shouting his head off Bollocking some poor Minister that admittedly probably deserved it. Nights when Malcolm’s bowl of oranges, the ones he kept around to put some of his excess energy into peeling and eating, would run dry. The same nights where Sam would inevitably fall asleep while they were waiting for the results of their efforts during the night. 

The smell of a worn leather couch brought Sam back to the morning after those long long nights at Westminster when she would wake up on the old couch in Malcolm’s office with a blanket covering her that was not there when she fell asleep and her shoes resting neatly at the foot of said couch. The mornings when she saw Malcolm working quietly at his desk by lamplight, so Sam could catch a few hours of precious sleep and would then pretend not to notice when she caught him watching her while he stretched, before grabbing her emergency bag from a cabinet where Malcolm kept his extra suit and getting coffee for both of them. 

The smell of Thai food was one of her favorites. It reminded her of the first time she had kissed her husband. It was another one of those nights where it was very likely that she wouldn’t get home until after midnight. It was already late when Sam walked into Malcolm’s office with food and forced him to eat. They were talking about something other than work for once. Malcolm showed Sam his funny side, the side he rarely showed to anyone aside from his family. He was charming. He was sweet, he was a little bit flirty. Sam more than happily flirted back. 

They had fallen into a comfortable silence which had led to the kiss. It was short and surprisingly tender, especially from someone like Tucker. After they separated, Malcolm insisted on taking Sam on a proper date on the weekend. 

Then there was the scent that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It was the scent that was all over her bedsheets and her apartment. it was something distinctly Malcolm. The scent was her favorite part of being at home. It took her back to every moment that she had spent with Malcolm. It was the scent that kept her company on those now-rare nights that Malcolm was unavoidably kept at work and not able to be home.

It was those nights where Sam would slip on one of Malcolm’s pullovers and travel back in time to her happiest moments.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading let me know what you thonk!


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